Sanders v. City of Chi.

• Decision Date: 17 May 2016
• Docket Number: Case No. 13 C 0221
• Parties: RODELL SANDERS, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF CHICAGO HEIGHTS, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

RODELL SANDERS, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF CHICAGO HEIGHTS, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 13 C 0221

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION

May 17, 2016

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

AMY J. ST. EVE, District Court Judge:

On April 10, 2015, Plaintiff Rodell Sanders filed a Second Amended Complaint alleging deprivations of his constitutional rights, along with state law claims, against Defendant City of Chicago Heights ("Chicago Heights" or "the City") and present and former Chicago Heights police officers Defendants Sam Mangialardi, Jeffrey Bohlen, Robert Pinnow, Anthony Murphy, Joseph Rubestelli, Jeffrey Goss, and Charles Nardoni. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1367(a); 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Before the Court are Defendant Chicago Heights', Defendant Mangialardi's, and the other Defendant Officers' motions for summary judgment brought pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(a).

For the following reasons, the Court denies Defendant Chicago Heights' summary judgment motion, grants Defendant Mangialardi's summary judgment motion, and grants in part and denies in part Defendant Officers' summary judgment motion. The Court dismisses Defendants Mangialardi, Nardoni, Murphy, Rubestelli, and Goss as named Defendants from this lawsuit, and consequently grants Defendant Officers' motion regarding punitive damages against Chief Nardoni's widow Geraldine Nardoni, who the Court substituted as a named Defendant after Defendant Chief Nardoni's passing.

The remaining Defendants in this lawsuit are Defendant Pinnow, Defendant Bohlen, and the City of Chicago Heights. The claims that survive summary judgment include all of Sanders' Fourteenth Amendment due process claims and attendant Monell claim against Chicago Heights, his conspiracy claim brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and his common law claims of malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

BACKGROUND

I. Procedural Background

After being incarcerated for approximately 20 years, on July 22, 2014, a Circuit Court of Cook County jury acquitted Plaintiff Rodell Sanders on all criminal counts involving the 1993 murder of Philip Atkins and the shooting of Stacy Armstrong. (R. 160, Pl.'s Rule 56.1 Stmt. Add'l Facts ¶¶ 1, 2; R. 143, Defs.' Joint Rule 56.1 Stmt. Facts ¶ 80.) Originally, a Circuit Court of Cook County jury convicted Sanders of murder and attempted murder in January 1995. (Defs.' Stmt. Facts ¶ 80.) Sanders then filed a successful post-conviction petition brought under the Illinois Post-Conviction Hearing Act, 725 ILCS 5/122-1, et seq., in which the Circuit Court judge granted Sanders a new trial because of his trial counsel's constitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel. See People v. Sanders, No. 1-11-0373, 2012 WL 6955490, at *1 (1st Dist. May 30, 2012) (unpublished). The Illinois Appellate Court, First District, affirmed the Circuit Court, and the State retried Sanders in July 2014, at which time the jury acquitted him. (Pl.'s Stmt. Facts ¶ 1, Defs.' Stmt. Facts ¶ 82.) The present civil rights lawsuit followed.

II. The Parties

At the time of the December 1993 murder and resultant criminal investigation, Sanders was a high ranking member of the Gangster Disciples street gang in Chicago's south suburbs, which includes Chicago Heights. (Pl.'s Stmt. Facts ¶ 101; Defs.' Stmt. Facts ¶¶ 29, 32.) During the Atkins murder investigation, the Chicago Heights Police Department employed Defendants Jeffrey Bohlen, Robert Pinnow, and Jeffrey Goss as police detectives. (Id. ¶ 82; Def.'s Stmt. Facts ¶ 4.) Defendant Anthony Murphy was a Lieutenant and the Chief of Detectives and Defendant Joseph Rubestelli was a Sergeant in the Detectives Division. (Defs.' Stmt. Facts ¶¶ 8, 9; Pl.'s Stmt. Facts ¶¶ 80, 81.) Charles Nardoni, now deceased, was the Chief of Police during the Atkins murder investigation. (Defs.' Stmt. Facts ¶¶ 6, 7.) Defendant Sam Mangialardi, who was the Deputy Chief of Police under Chief Nardoni, had been suspended from the Chicago Heights Police Department on August 5, 1993 because he had been indicted on federal criminal charges. (Id. ¶¶ 11, 12; Pl.'s Stmt. Facts ¶ 83.) During the investigation of the Atkins shooting, Defendant Mangialardi did not supervise any police department employees nor did he actively investigate the shooting by interviewing witnesses or preparing reports. (Defs.' Stmt. Facts ¶¶ 22, 26.)

The Court takes judicial notice that on August 3, 1993 a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Defendant Mangialardi with racketeering, aiding and abetting a drug conspiracy, extortion, money laundering, theft of government funds, civil rights conspiracy, filing false tax returns, and witness tampering in case number 93 CR 0560-1. See Spaine v. Cmty. Contacts, Inc., 756 F.3d 542, 545 (7th Cir. 2014) (courts "may take judicial notice of publicly available records of court proceedings."). On May 25, 1994, a jury found DefendantMangialardi guilty on all counts of the superseding indictment, and on July 5, 1995, the district court judge sentenced Defendant Mangialardi to a total of 125 months in prison. (See 93 CR 0560-1, Defs.' Stmt. Facts ¶ 12.) Other Chicago Heights police officers and officials were similarly indicted and convicted in relation to the FBI investigation that involved Defendant Mangialardi. (Pl.'s Stmt. Facts ¶¶ 86-87, 98-99.)

III. December 1993 Shooting and Initial Investigation

On December 14, 1993, Atkins was working at the Old Country Buffet restaurant in Matteson, Illinois, where Armstrong picked him up after he had finished work. (Pl.'s Stmt. Facts ¶ 5; R. 157-9, Armstrong Dep., at 53, 79.) From there, Atkins and Armstrong, who were dating, drove to a friend's house in Harvey, Illinois and then stopped at a payphone in Harvey. (Pl.'s Stmt. Facts ¶¶ 5, 34.) Around 2:00 a.m. on December 15, 1993, Atkins and Armstrong were in Armstrong's vehicle, which was parked in an alley near 1437 Portland Avenue in Chicago Heights. (Id. ¶ 6.) At that time, several males approached the vehicle and ordered Atkins and Armstrong out of the car at gunpoint. (Id.) The men then escorted Armstrong and Atkins to a dark, secluded garage. (Id. ¶¶ 6, 7.) Inside the garage, the men questioned Atkins about his gang affiliation and he revealed that he was a member of the Mickey Cobras, which is a rival gang of the Gangster Disciples. (Id. ¶¶ 6, 34.) One of the men then shot both Atkins and Armstrong, killing Atkins. (Id. ¶ 6; Defs.' Stmt. Facts ¶ 35.) Armstrong, who had been shot in the head multiple times, survived the shooting. (Defs.' Stmt. Facts ¶¶ 35, 36.)

On the night of the shooting, Defendants Bohlen and Pinnow, who were the lead detectives on the Atkins murder investigation, spoke to Armstrong about the crime while she was in the hospital. (Pl.'s Stmt. Facts ¶¶ 8, 82; Defs.' Stmt. Facts ¶ 37.) Armstrong did notidentify any of the perpetrators at that time. (Pl.'s Stmt. Facts ¶ 8.) On December 28, 1993, Defendants Bohlen and Pinnow re-interviewed Armstrong. (Id. ¶ 10; Defs.' Stmt. Facts ¶¶ 4, 39.) During this interview, Armstrong informed Defendants Bohlen and Pinnow that four men were involved in the crime. (Defs.' Stmt. Facts ¶ 40.) She further explained that one person took Atkins out of the car at gunpoint and brought him into the alley and that the same person then took her down the alley to the garage. (Pl.'s Stmt. Facts ¶ 11.) Armstrong referred to this person as Offender #1 and was only able to describe Offender #1 as a black male. (Id.) Also, Armstrong provided a description of the second offender or Offender #2, who was the shooter, as about five feet, five inches to seven inches tall, with a medium build and that he was wearing a black hooded shirt with black pants. (Id. ¶ 12, R. 157-9, Ex. 9, Armstrong Dep., at 96-100; Defs.' Stmt. Facts ¶ 41.) She described the shooter as being about sixteen-years-old. (Pl.'s Stmt. Facts ¶ 12, Armstrong Dep., at 96-98.) Furthermore, Armstrong described Offender #3, the person who ordered the shooting, to Defendant Officers Bohlen and Pinnow. (Pl.'s Stmt. Facts ¶ 13.) Specifically, Armstrong described Offender #3 as a black male, who was six feet tall with a thin build, a mustache, and additional facial hair. (Id.) She told the officers that Offender #3 was wearing an olive knit hat and black and grey faded pants and that Offender #3 was the leader. (Id.; Defs.' Stmt. Facts ¶ 41.) Armstrong informed the officers that the fourth perpetrator acted as a lookout, although she could only identify this individual as male. (Pl.'s Stmt. Facts ¶ 14.) At the December 28, 1993 interview, Armstrong told Defendant Bohlen that "Green" - later identified as "Green Sallas" - may have been involved in shooting. (Id. ¶¶ 15, 72; R. 157-13, Bohlen Dep., at 161-62, 170.)

IV. Photographic Array

A few days after the hospital released Armstrong, she viewed a photographic array at her home on December 31, 1993. (Pl.'s Stmt. Facts ¶ 21.) Defendant Officers Bohlen and Pinnow included Sanders in the photographic array that Armstrong viewed. (Id. ¶¶ 23-24.) The parties dispute whether Defendant Bohlen received a tip from a confidential informant named Edward Villagomez implicating Sanders in the Atkins' murder and that this tip caused Defendant Bohlen to include Sanders in the photographic array. (Def.'s Stmt. Facts ¶ 43.) On December 31, 1993, Armstrong identified Sanders from the photographic array as Offender #3 - the offender who ordered the shooting. (Pl.'s Stmt. Facts ¶ 25.) Armstrong, however, had previously described Offender #3 as being six feet tall and thin, whereas Sanders was short and stocky at that time. (Id. ¶¶ 25, 26.) It is undisputed that Sanders' photograph in the array did not have a height indicator in it and that a photograph of his shoulder appeared next to the photograph of him facing the camera. (Id. ¶ 27.) Evidence in the record also indicates that the photograph of Sanders had a different background than the five other photographs in the...